Tech Roundup: Amazon Prime Lite, Podcast Slump & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• The U.K. government amends the Online Safety Bill to make senior managers at tech companies criminally liable for failures to protect minors, potentially facing up to two years in jail.
• Google releases a new tool to enable Bluetooth connections on its Stadia Controller, as the tech giant prepares to shut down the cloud game streaming service on January 18, 2023; officially brings back app changelogs to Play Store on the web, a week after acknowledging it as a bug.
• Amazon pilots Prime Lite, a new subscription tier in India that provides customers with access to popular benefits such as free two-day delivery and ad-supported Prime Video in standard definition at a discounted annual price of US$ 12 as a cost-effective alternative to the regular Prime membership, which is priced at US$ 18.
• Samsung adds Galaxy S22 phones and two of its laptops to its Self-Repair Program, the 15-inch Galaxy Book Pro and 15-inch Galaxy Book Pro 360, following Apple and Google.
• Brave web browser adds support for Tor bridges and enable users to install and turn on the Snowflake extension to help turn their devices into proxies to assist users in censored countries connect to the anonymity network.
• Google warns Indian antitrust watchdog's ruling that Android handset manufacturers should not be forced to install its suite of first-party apps (and by extension, allow Android forks) could pose threats to individual and national security due to "unchecked proliferation" of predatory apps and lack of robust and consistent security upgrades.
• YouTube tests a hub of free, ad-supported streaming channels with select media partners criticism; plans to change a policy announced in November 2022 that limits ads or demonetizes a creator's video if inappropriate language is used in the first few seconds of the vodeo.

• Global smartphone shipments fall 17% YoY in Q4 2022, while FY 2022 shipments drop 11% YoY to fewer than 1.2 billion units, the lowest shipments recorded since 2013; Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo hold the top five spots in Q4 2022 with a cumulative 74% market share.
• Discord acquires Gas, a poll-based social media app with over 1 million daily active users that allows for friends to share compliments with each other, for an undisclosed sum; to "continue as its own standalone app and the Gas team will be joining Discord to help our efforts to continue to grow across new and core audiences."
• Apple agrees to hire a third-party firm to conduct an audit of its U.S. labour practices; unveils new MacBook Pro laptops and an updated Mac mini with next-gen M2 Pro processor (MacBook Pro also come with an M2 Max option) and faces heat for for an Apple TV update that requires users to have an iPhone or iPad running iOS 16 (or later) to accept iCloud terms and conditions.
• Twitter says it's enforcing unspecified "long-standing API rules" that "may result" in some third-party clients like Tweetbot "not working"; opens up waitlist for Verification for Organizations, formerly known as Twitter Blue for Business.
• Online dating platform Hinge takes on Tinder Platinum with a new higher-priced premium tier that costs US$ 50-US $60 per month for "highly motivated daters," marking a significant jump over the current US$ 35 per month paid version.
• Google Translate gets offline translation for 33 more languages; updates default Clock app on Android with options to record custom alarm and timer sounds as it reportedly readies "Grogu" tracker to compete with Apple's AirTags and Tile
• Data gathered by Listen Notes shows that the number of new podcasts have dropped from 1,019,273 in 2020 to 219,178 in 2022, highlighting a nearly 80% decrease.